St. Paul police plan to encrypt dispatches, as has Minneapolis, other agencies

St. Paul police plan to encrypt dispatches, as has Minneapolis, other agencies

Members of the public who listen to St. Paul police’s emergency radio dispatches will be met by radio silence beginning this fall. The police department is moving to encrypt its communications with dispatchers and officers. They say it’s to meet privacy requirements and for the safety of officers. For scanner listeners, especially those who post in real time on social media about what they’re hearing, they say it takes away transparency. The mov…

New 911 dashboard, police encryption coming to Minneapolis

The City of Minneapolis announced a new 911 Emergency Incidents Dashboard to keep the public informed about emergencies, just as the police department plans to encrypt its radios.  The dashboard will feature 911 calls made over the last 12 hours and their locations, as well as categorizing incidents by police, fire and Behavioral Crisis Response calls. It will be updated every 30 minutes, with 911 incidents older than 12 hours moving to a separa…

Oakland Police to Cut Public Off from Live Radio Feeds

KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco The Oakland Police Department is cutting the public off from its live radio feeds.  Bay Area News Group reports the OPD is moving all of its scanner feeds to private, encrypted channels.  That means the public won’t be able to monitor public police scanners.  Numerous Bay Area cities have already made such a switch.  OPD officials say the move is being made to protect the safety of the department and its officers, but cr…